IIM Ahmedabad - Indian Institute of Management

Dear Sanket,
If you are looking for MBA, you must give either GMAT or GRE. There may be GMAT waivers at certain universities and to be eligible for such waivers you must a have vast work experience. You query is actually university specific, you must check directly with the concerned university. Regarding the score, again this is university specific. They all have different requirements and criteria. Decide where you want to study and check university profiles. You may specify more of your profile here so that I can counsel you better.

It would usually take 2-3 years to pay of the loan. However it would totally depend on you when you want to pay the loan. Many people prefer to pay it later as there are tax advantages as well. Also there are a lot of need based scholarships available which reduces your loan burden as well. Hence you need not worry about loan amount too much.

I believe 20 mock tests are sufficient for preparation of CAT. But at the same time you should cover entire course and practice problems topic wise as well. Any coaching institute you join will provide you with enough material. Hence you should not worry about this. Just start preparation.

Campus life in IIM Ahmedabad is really good. This would most certainly be the best time of your life. You will find yourself among the best and brightest individuals in the country. The professors here are world class that makes classes so much fun. And you are absolutely free to do whatever you want in your life, you will find sufficient mentorship for whatever you want to do. Also it would be unfair if I don't mention that life here is tough and there is constant competition, which eventually brings best out in you. At the end of two years at IIM Ahmedabad, you will see the value addition in yourself.

It takes practice and only practice to crack CAT and I believe 20-15 mock tests are more than enough. Given that you will be practicing for standalone questions and problem sets as well. However if you think you need more mock tests, please go ahead and take those. Questions are not that difficult, you need to master speed and accuracy.

IIMs usually have cutoff for 10th and 12th marks and I am sorry to say you would not clear any cutoff with 37% in class 10th. However, IIMs also have a policy of inviting top ranker in CAT from different streams. Hence If you can score 99.98 and more, you will have a good chance of getting a call from IIMs. (if you get 100 percentile, you can be sure of calls from IIMs).